The Blob

Monday, March 03, 2003

Think Oven Mitts

Be careful for what you wish - you just might get it. Regardless of whether you prefer a Mac, a Windows PC or a Linux PC, denizen geeks of any persuasion have one thing they agree upon: it can never be fast enough. I spend too much free time looking at the latest news and rumor sites about computing, and the biggest waste of time is the user feedback message boards at the end of the articles. Rant, rant, rant. It's all, "I want it faster! I want it now!" whining that drives me insane.

Some people never get a life. And fewer still seem to understand the pressures of running a business in a highly competitive environment like technology.

This lust for speed will eventually have side effects. Not that a faster computer isn't a good thing. But increased CPU speed begets increased electrical activity (wattage), which beats what is becoming a nasty result: heat. Lots of heat.

If you spend any time on a laptop like I do, the palms of your hands must surely notice it. The faster the Pentium or G4, the more heat these little wonders pump out. And eventually, as Pentium whatevers push 4, 5, even 6 Gigahertz in clock speed, the resulting heat may soon cause problems. I can see it now: the first product liability lawsuit brought by the family of a dearly departed loved one who, while using his or her laptop, spontaneously burst into flames resulting from excessive heat from the processor.

This may give a new meaning to the term, sweaty palms. Or, you may hear journalists wagging about having to spend their days slaving over a steaming hot Pentium. I can't wait to see the ad headlines: The New Dell Perspireon Laptop. Hot Enough For Ya?

Three words: think oven mitts.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]



<< Home